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Pointed leaves, small white flowers, and one seed. The rootgashed, pounded line, and bleached, makes a powder and starch ;^ is recommended as a proper food for infants, and is gelatinoushke salep. It is a native of South America , and is cultivated inthe West Indies ; it is found in great plenty near La Vera Cruz.Plate XCTX. b

MARASMUS, from ftajsuvui,] an atrophy in its last

MARAT, John Paul, one of those bloody agents of the French ' 2 volution, whose bigotted and ferocious zeal for liberty, led themlo destroy its' best friends, when their political sentiments did not®fp'ee in every punctilio with their own. If any man can merit"Ssassination, this bloody deputy to the National Convention''as deservedly assassinated in his own house, while bathing,.y Charlotte Corde, on the evening of the 13th July, 1793.lo rat; " as a nlo3t violent enemy to the Brissotines, and on the-‘th April 1793, proposed “ to exterminate the conspirators.”

a man of letters he was the conductor of an inflammatory Jour-®‘> "'hich increased the discontents of the people, and contribut-e '® mu cli to the bloody scenes that followed.

, MARATHON, in ancient geography, one of the drmi orj^uilets of Attica; about 22 miles N. E. of Athens , towardsttotia, near the sea. The plain of Marathon , famous for Mil-wes’s victory over the Persians, by which the liberties of Athens "d other cities of Greece were saved, is long and narrow, butinsists chiefly of level ground, and therefore admits the opera-ills of cavalry, which formed the main strength of the barbarianj, m y> and with which the Greeks were very poorly provided.•^• ere the Persians , under Datis, pitched their camp, by the ad-y'te of Iiippias the banished king of Athens , who had solicitedT| C ex P e dhion, and had a perfect knowledge of the countri.>p, le Persian army consisted of 100,000 infantry, and 10,000 horse.'^ Athenians were in the utmost consternation. They had, up-the first appearance of the Persian fleet, sent to implore assist-t *5 from the other nations of Greece ; but some had submitted1'1 ^ rlus ’ alK l others trembled at the very name of the Persians .U ' e Lacedemonians alone promised troops ; but various obstacles

T'eiltPfl thorn from immorl.rlol .. Jorinino -i imiottini ’"itll tllOSC

its own

of ^*^ a ted them from immediately forming a junction wit,s(r Athens . This city, tiierefore, could only rely on i._ .....

ArU^' 1 ’ ^ possessed three brave generals, viz. Miltiades,

kj. s ,| es, and Themistocles , who, by their patriotic exertions,ill i‘id the flame of the noblest heroism in the minds of the Athe-hirr’i, ^ ev ' es were immediately made. Each of the ten tribesthg'j e< ^ 1000 foot-soldiers with a commander. No sooner wereOio,. °l )s assembled than they marched into the plain of Mara-f 0r "here the inhabitants of Plaliea in Bocotia sent them a rein-of einei 'lof 1000 infantry. Scarcely were the (wo armies in sightAriepi ol ' ler > when Miltiades pro|iosed to attack the enemy.th e ll ^ es an d several others warmly supported this measure : hutrv ere r f> terrified at the excessive disproportion of the armies,itig i- . waiting for the succours from Lacedemon. Opinions be-et” th" '*^’ ^ad rec0lirse 1° that of the polemarch, or chief

^militia, to decide the matter. Miltiades addressed him,of a man deeply impressed with the importance of

With A lltla > 1thp „^ e aMour

exn e ■ m .S circumstances: “ Athens (said he) is on the point offir S (. nen cing the greatest of vicissitudes. Ready to become thelii R P.°wer of Gieece, or subjected to the tvranny and fury of’!.iy. tV Ftom you alone, Callimachus , she now awaits her des-

sli a "J‘ we suffer the ardour of the troops to cool, they will°n to * l "ly bow beneath the Persian yoke; but if we lead themJ’otiv att * e > the gods and victory will favour us. A word from■ rese' 11 , 0 , 1 ’ 1 * 1 must now precipitate your country into slavery, ori attl e , er liberty.” Callimachus gave his suffrage, and thetlj er " as resolved on. To ensure success, Aristides , and the

j' r esebattle

1tl)e r - oil

°fthe p llera * s aber bis example, yielded to Miltiades the honourdr evv i^mand which belonged to them in rotation. Miltiades^cattefp | ' 1S l roo P s at the foot of a mountain, on a spot ot ground*^ a l&an- ° Ver w 'lb trees to impede the Persian cavalry. 'Phellie r j g | S ,' vei ' e .placed on the left wing ; Callimachus commanded^'Mades’ ^ ris,| des and Themistocles were in the centre, andbte Gref.; ever y where. An interval of nearly a mile separatedli'e O re ,j a " arm y from that of the Persians . At the first signall?nisl l p ( j, a? advanced over this space running. The Persians , as-*' 0ll less • I ^ rri °tle of attack so new, for a moment remained mo-'ol.i’i, Utto the impetuous fury of the enemy they soon op-“L— NO. 133. J '

posed a more sedate and not less formidable fury. After an ob-stinate conllict of some hours, victory began to declare for theGrecian army. The right wing dispersed the enemy in the plain,,while the lell drove them back on a morass that had the appear-ance of a meadow, in which they stuck fast and were lost. Boththe.-e bodies of troops now flew to the succour of Aristides andThemistocles, teady to give way before the flower of the Persian troops in the centre. From this moment the rout became general.The Persians , repulsed on all sides, found their only asylum inthe fleet. The conquerors pursued them with fire ami sword, andtook, burnt, or sunk, the greater part of their vessels: the restescaped by dint of rowing. The Persians lost about 6400 menthe Athenians only 192. Miltiades was wounded ; Iiippias wasleft dead on the field, as were Stesileus and Callimachus , two ofthe Athenian generals. Scarcely was the battle over, when a sol-dier, worn out with fatigue, resolved to carry the first news of the-victory to the magistrates of Athens , and without quitting hisarms, he runs, flies, arrives, announces the victory, and falls deadat their feet. This battle was fought on the 6th of Boedromion, inthe 3d year of the 72d Olympiad, or 29th Sept. B. C. 490. Thenext day 2000 Spartans arrived, who, in three days and nights,had marched 1200 stadia. The Athenians neglected nothing to-eternize the memory of those who fell in the battle. It bad beenusual to inter the citizens who perished in war at the public ex-pence, in the Ceramicus , without the city ; but these were deem-ed uncommonly meritorious. They were buried, and a harrowwas erected on the spot where their bravery bad been manifested.Their names were engraven on half-columns erected on the plainof Marathon . In the intervals between them were erected tro-phies bearing the arms of the Persians . An artist of eminencepainted all the circumstances of the battle in one of the most fre-quented porticoes of the city: Miltiades was there represented atthe head of the generals, exhorting the troops to fight for theircountry. Pausanias examined the field of battle about 600 yearsafter this event; and found, ou the barrow of the Athenians ] pil-lars containing the names of the dead under those of the tribes towhich they belonged ; another for the Platieensians and slavesand a distinct monument of Miltiades, who survived the battle,'l’lie Marathonians worshipped those who were slain in the battle..Many centuries have elapsed since the age of Pausanias ; but the-principal barrow still towers above the level of the plain. It is oflight fine earth, and has a bush or two growing on it. Dr. Chand-ler informs us, that he enjoyed a pleasing and satisfactory viewfrom the summit; and looked, but in vain, for the pillars on-which the names were recorded, lamenting that such memorials-should ever be removed. At a small distance northward is a.square basement of white marble, perhaps part of the trophy.

MARATISTS, a name given to those furious and sanguinary,political zealots, who, like Marat, during the French Revolution, ,expected to establish the liberty of France , by extirpating all whodiffered from them in their political opinions.

MARATTIA, in botany, a genus of the cryptogamia Alices orferns. Capsules oval, gaping longitudinally at top, with several-cells on each side. There are three species.

MARAUD ERS, in a military sense, means a party of soldiers,who, without any order, go into the neighbouring houses and vil-lages, when the army is either in camp or garrison, to plunder anddestroy, &c. Marauders are a disgrace to the camp, to the mili-tary profession, and deserve no better quarter from their officersthan they give to the poor peasants, &c.

MARAVEDI, a little Spanish copper-coin, worth somewhatmore than a French denier, or half a farthing English . r l he Spa-?niards always count by maravedis, both in commerce and in theirfinances, though the coin itself is no longer current among them.Sixty-three maravedis are equivalent to a rial of silver; so thatthe piaster, or piece of eight rials, contain; 504 ; and the pistole of-four pieces of eight, 2016 maravedis.

MARUELLA, a town of Spain, in Andalusia , 30 miles N.’E.of Gibraltar, and 28 S. W. of Malaga . Lon. 5.25. W. Lat. 36..25. N.

MARBLE, in natural history, bright and beautiful stones com-posed of small separate concretions, moderately hard, not givingfire with steel, fermenting with and soluble in acid menstrua, andcalcining in a flight fire. The Latin word marmor, is derived from;the Greek uutn«tcm r to shine, or glitter. 'Hie colours by which-5 G marble*